You need to box smart these days, if you want to take your brand / clients to the next level. Banner ads and bullshit reports about “Advertising Value Equivalent” just won’t cut it anymore. You need to move ahead and keep your finger on the pulse, before you get eaten. Here’s how:

Apart from clarifying (which you knew) the fact that 2012 was a final period of learning for brands online, Mashable identified Red Bull’s success with the Felix Baumgartner record-breaking space leap, as a prime example of how brands can create newsworthy content. ‘Brands will break news,’ is the point they make. Another example, closer to home, is the Clifton Trawler fiasco, which saw a fishing trawler staranded for a number of days on Clifton beach. A simple pizza delivery by Butlers Pizza, saw that stunt making the pages of the Wall Street Journal and London Metro.

Look at what Sainsbury’s in the UK are doing, as they put content at the heart of their marketing strategy (here).

Or Coca-Cola teaming up with Ridley Scott (here).

The consumer is not simply cruising the web anymore. There is too much going on and they are choosing platforms that deliver content that is filtered to suit their needs and tastes. Mashable says, ‘social media and new technologies have allowed people to hyper-curate their web experiences, meaning they’re way more likely to go to a brand’s Twitter page than homepage. ‘ Brands need to find out where their audience are, and use relevant content to drive them back to their websites.

Points 9 and 10 are most revealing.

9) Native Advertising Will Start To Scale

Native advertising is the next big thing, but many properties haven’t quite figured out how to scale it; that’s bound to change. We’ll start seeing a marketplace or ad exchange for native ads where brands can buy and sell sponsored posts. The success metrics for these ads will likely be social sharing and engagement. A marketplace or ad exchange will be the key to scale and sustainability for this ad format in 2013.

10) Brands And Publishers Wil Be Better Together

As the line dividing traditional publishers and brands continues to dissolve, we’ll see new partnerships form between the two that will open up opportunities—beyond the native ad—to engage audiences in creative, innovative and profitable ways. One example we’ve loved is the online/offline campaign from Microsoft and Conde Nast. Partnerships will be critical to standing out and gaining greater distribution in a sea of content.

CLICK HERE to read the whole Mashable article.